A Pokemon Town
by Emelion3
Summary: A SYOC fanfic. The amazing world of Pokemon meets the mundane activities of Harvest moon. What relationships will be made? What battles will be fought? What danger lurks outside of town?
1. Welcome to the World of Harvest Moon

**Hello viewers! here's my introductory chapter for open OC submissions so that you guys can get a taste of my writing style and whether or not you want to expose your OC's to my imagination. Thanks for reading!**

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Chapter 1: Welcome to the World of Harvest Moon

Your eyes squinted as they tried to adjust to the harsh lighting. Trying to focus on the figure underneath the spotlight, you began to make out the figure as a elderly man in a perfectly starched suit, donning a button that screamed "MAYOR" just beside his lapel.

The man cleared his throat, "Welcome to the world of Harvest Moon! Here you will encounter individuals from a variety of backgrounds and professions from farming to seamstress. In addition, several specimen of creatures inhabit this world. For example, there's this little fella." The self-declared mayor pulled out a small red and white sphere before allowing it to open in a flash of white light. Slightly annoyed, you had to shield your eyes from the bright light with your arm. This was not the type of light show you'd like to attend…

When the light dimmed, you noticed a small creature next to to the Mayor's trousers. It appeared to be a dog-like creature with a series of dark brown and cream zigzags running down the length of the animal. A patch of black fur stretched across the eyes of the creature, looking like a built in mask on the pelt of the animal.

"-Goon!" the dog-like creature cried out. With another annoying flash of light, the creature disappeared, like magic. Returning your glance back to the man, you waited for him to finish his speech.

"These creatures help us with day to day task, making our mundane lives more exciting. Now that you have a general idea of what our world is like, I only have a few more questions before I allow you to venture into the world of Harvest moon," the elderly man's eyes gleamed in amusement as he prepared himself to ask the first question.

"Now let me ask you: are you a boy, or a girl?"

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 **OC submissions for this story are now open. I prefer OC submissions by PM, please. Please note that not all submissions may make the cut if I receive too many submissions. I am looking for around 6 bachelorettes, 6 bachelors, 12 towns people, and other interesting characters. Just please, no Super Saiyan characters. The general submission form will be on my page for easy copy/paste. Thank you, I anticipate your submissions!**


	2. Not His Day

**Hello everyone! I would like to present the first official chapter of this story, I hope everyone enjoys.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, Harvest Moon, or many of these fabulous OCs**

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 _Chapter 2: Not His Day_

 _Spring 2nd_

Elliot released a deep breath and took a step back to admire his masterpiece. On the plate before him was strawberry squid shumai topped with a generous coating of hot sauce. This was definitely a contender to put on the menu. Elliot looked over at his Pignite, who was also marveling the amazing creation, and smiled.

"You can have at this one, I'll taste our next dish," Elliot told Pignite as he nudged the plate in the direction of the fire pig Pokémon. Pignite snorted in delight before beginning to chomp down on the peculiar food. Elliot was going to try to sneak just one of the shumai from his friend when the door flung open behind him.

"We need the order for table twelve. The toddler at table two spilt his moo moo milk all over the floor again, and table six is complaining that the steak is only 'medium well', not 'super medium well'… are you even listening, Elliot?" Elliot looked back towards his father, Richard Harley, with an especially spicy mouthful of shumai, looking like a blubbering fish as he tried to sputter out a response to his father.

"-Yesh," Elliot managed as he swallowed.

His father only sighed, "If you can't be serious in the kitchen right now, how about you go take some orders and be a little more useful to the café?"

Elliot glanced down at his flour coated apron and trousers and shrugged, "Aye, aye Boss. Come on, Swirlix, your adorable looks will help me get some extra tips with the female customers." The ball of cotton candy had been sitting in the corner of the kitchen shooting envious looks at Pignite and his lunch, but now happily bounced besides its master. Elliot started serving by heading to one of the aforementioned tables by his father.

"Ma'am, we don't have free moo moo milk refills after the fourth spilt cup, would you still like another cup?" he informed politely as possible while Swirlix provided damage control for the bawling toddler by offering some of his cotton candy. Two more glasses of moo moo milk later, and a crisis in toddler town was adverted.

"No, we don't serve slowpoke on a stick here, contrary to popular belief. Now what can I get for you today?" Elliot recited, staring down at his clipboard. He would do anything to get back in the kitchen. Just him and his ingredients. He loved the customers at the café, truly, but when weighing taking orders to slaving over food, he'd be a slave any day. Elliot finally looked up when he heard a deep chuckle beyond his clipboard.

"Banished from the kitchen due to too much culinary prowess again?" the voice inquired. An extremely tanned man looked at Elliot with calm green eyes. Elliot tried not to look directly at scar running down the left side of his friend's face and instead focused on the cabbie hat that covered his mop of brown hair.

"Well aren't you the mind reader today?" Elliot grinned, "Can you read what I'm think now, Cody Johnson?" Cody blinked back at Elliot, unamused by his friend's antics.

"I'm going to order now," Cody informed Elliot. "I'll have two orders of the bananas foster, one order of flank steak, and a banana milkshake on the side, hold the cherry." Elliot scribbled down quickly on his piece of paper, unfazed by the large order.

"Long day on the farm already?" he asked. Cody's stomach growled in response.

"Dave didn't decide to wake up until eleven, so I did most of the tilling and planting solo today. It's the beginning of the season, too," Cody grumbled. Elliot noticed the aforementioned meowth was not attached to his owner's hip at the moment. The café was Pokémon friendly, so Elliot presumed the meowth had been subjected to eating store-bought Pokémon food in exchange for leaving Cody in the dirt during a key part of the farming season.

"Well let's hope your crops turn out well this year as well, you're the café's key produce provider. Father would be furious if we had to outsource and settle for anything less," Elliot mused. Cody frowned slightly and nodded sharply, affirming that he would not allow himself to disappoint those who relied on him. Elliot nudged Swirlix in Cody's direction. Swirlix leapt into Cody's lap and gave him a giant lick on the face. Cody stiffly picked up the Pokémon before gently setting it on the floor. He then proceeded to take the edge of his dirt-covered button up and wipe his face with it. Elliot shook his head slightly, the guy was serious as ever. Realizing he had been chatting for longer than his father would have liked, Elliot scurried back to report his order before his father scolded him for "lollygagging".

Tacking the order to a long list of others, Elliot began scanning the café for the next customer to serve. He decidedly ignored the evil glares from the woman at table two dealing with yet another spilt glass of moo moo milk. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a petite woman in the back of the café. She seemed to be drowning in the blonde curls that fell around her. Furthermore, she was wearing an obnoxiously large pair of black sunglasses indoors. Who even did that? Granted it was high-noon outside, but they still looked a bit preposterous on her. Walking over, he messed with the quiff of his hair, a bad habit of his.

He slid a menu onto the table, "Hello, miss, I'm Elliot and I'll be serving you today. Please take your time looking over the menu. Is there anything I can get for you to drink?" The woman turned her head towards Elliot's voice and snorted before tucking a couple golden locks behind her ear.

"Water," she replied curtly. Getting annoyed at her lack of common courtesy Elliot stuck out his arm and bowed flamboyantly.

"As you wish, fair lady," Elliot smiled, voice dripping in sarcasm. Elliot marched off to go retrieve the woman's water. He had to admit he was acting slightly childish, but he was trying to keep an upbeat attitude after being exiled from the kitchen for the day, and then this woman just had to go and rain on his, well, whatever he had going for him today!

On his way back, Elliot dropped off banana man's order with a huff. Cody cooly raised an eyebrow at the change in Elliot's demeanor, but that didn't stop from petting Swirlix secretly under the table.

"Your water, miss," Elliot told the woman. "Have you decided on what you want?" The woman was quiet for a few moments, fingering at the collar of her blue chiffon blouse.

"Quiche," she stated with resolution.

"I'm sorry, miss, that's not on our menu," Elliot sighed.

"Then, Bouillabaisse," she replied.

"I'm sorry, miss, that's not on our menu."

"Paella," she countered.

"I'm sorry, miss, that's not on our m-"

"Paella," she finalized, crossing her arms together, challenging Elliot.

Elliot threw his hands up, exasperated, "Are you even looking at the menu? Are you trying to be funny here?" The woman fell silent. Elliot finally noticed a shadow cast on the table next to his own. Turning around slowly, Elliot eyes met his father's enraged eyes.

"Hello, fa-… boss," Elliot smiled sheepishly. Richard Harley, thankfully, turned his attention to the woman at the table.

"I'm sorry for any inconveniences this young man has caused, what was it that you would like to order, ma'am?" Mr. Harley politely asked the woman, who gave the same stubborn reply that Elliot heard a few moments before. Mr. Harley scratched the black stubble on his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, that's not exactly on our traditional menu, but I can make an exception for an exceptionally beautiful lady, right Elliot?" Richard Harley grinned broadly while clasping tightly onto Elliot's shoulder.

"Right…" Elliot smiled tightly. The pressure on his shoulder increased.

"Anything for a… beautiful miss." The pressure immediately vanished as Elliot's father gave him a pat on his shoulder. Elliot scurried back to Cody's table and slumped into the adjacent chair.

"Quitting so soon?" Cody asked from behind the safety of his second bananas foster. Elliot reached over and used his finger to swipe some whipped cream from the top of the dessert before sitting back down in his chair. Meanwhile, Cody frowned down at the finger-shaped crater now in his dessert, as if frowning at the abomination hard enough would cause the valley to magically disappear.

"I just need to wait until tomorrow when I can work with my cutlery and Pignite where my work doesn't talk back to me," Elliot allowed himself to frown slightly, he missed his strawberry squid shumai.

"You're referring to the lass over there?" Cody indicated half-heartedly with the end of a spoon. He was still scowling at his destroyed dessert.

Elliot nodded, "She deliberately ignored the menu and just said whatever recipe came to her mind. The audacity…"

"Yeah, the audacity of people," Cody stared harder at the finger-shaped indent in the whipped cream, "it's offensive."

Elliot talked to Cody for a while, telling him of all the future recipes he had dreamed up the past couple of nights: honey battered wasabi ham, kimchi with pickled beets, and even vegemite grilled cheese. Cody was saved from more stomach-churning ideas when Elliot heard the ding of a bell as his father set the paella onto the counter for Elliot to pick up.

Elliot trudged over to the paella, gingerly lifted it, and trudged all the way over towards the table Cody had pointed to. Sipping on his banana milkshake, Cody watched a favorite reality show of his: The Life of Elliot. Elliot had set down the dish and the woman fumbled with her spoon slightly before taking a bite of rice and shrimp. After a few moments, Elliot had asked the woman, presumably, how she liked her specially made dish. She gave a succinct response, causing Elliot to deflate and make his way back to Cody's table. He had come to the café alone today to eat alone, but it seemed as though Elliot was in a particularly chatty mood today. Elliot ran his hands through his charcoal black hair and then put his chin in his hands.

"She said it was atrocious…" he pouted, "How can she blatantly say that! Practically everyone loves my father's cooking, it's an indisputable fact!"

Cody nodded, more focused on getting the last of the milkshake out of his glass, "Can I have my check?" Elliot's blue eyes narrowed, but he did ask he was asked and went to retrieve the check.

"Here you go," Elliot told Cody, suspiciously more gleeful than before. Cody perused the contents of the bill.

"You put a thirty percent gratuity on here, Elliot," Cody noted as he got out his wallet.

"I know!" Elliot beamed.

Cody set the money on the table, "If you pull that again, I'll increase my sales price on my crops this season." Elliot quickly put his hands up defensively and shook his head, admitting defeat towards his friend.

"Good, now here's your Swirlix back," Cody pointed to the fluffy creature nuzzled beside him on the floor. "Oh, and just wondering, did you ever mention any of the menu's specials to the lady you were serving today?"

Elliot stopped petting Swirlix and looked back at Cody, "No, why would I? It's not as if she would have heeded any of my recommendations with that stubborn attitude of hers. I thought we went over this already." Cody looked at his work boots and scratched the back of his neck. He was in a state of disbelief at how his friend really couldn't have noticed this.

"Are _you_ blind?" he asked, frowning at his friend. Elliot glanced at the lady. The black shades resting on her face seemed more blaring obvious that usual. Elliot slapped his hand over his face and groaned.

"Today," he announced, "I am an idiot."

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 **So, what did everyone think? Please feel free to critique my work in the review box below! I currently have 5 main bachelorettes and 6 main bachelors, I am looking for one more bachelorette! PM me if you'd like to submit an OC.**

 **Characters to have made an appearance so far:**

 **Elliot Harley- Courtesy of OPFan37**

 **Cody Johnson- Courtesy of wolf fang X1**

 **"Paella Lady"- my own OC (currently without a name)**

 **All OC characters belong to their respective owners, they are not mine.**

 **The other characters will slowly incorporate themselves into the story, I didn't want to shove too many characters in your face all at once.**


	3. It's all Science

**I'm back with another chapter! I've flushed out most of the relationships I want the townsfolk to have with one another, as well as gotten started on story arcs. On another note, I'm aiming for each chapter to be around 3,000 words, which is around 8 pages of a book.**

 **Also, I have fixed several errors in the previous chapter, much to my embarrassment. Additionally, I will be using the Harvest Moon calendar, not the traditional 12 month calendar.**

 **And on a final note before we start about Pokémon names:**

 **If "Pignite", for example, is used in a sentence, I'm referring to a specific Pokémon in which the trainer decided to not give a nickname. If it is lowercase, like "meowth" from last chapter, I'm referring to species as a whole, or as a descriptor to a Pokémon that already has a nickname.**

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 _Chapter 3: It's all Science_

 _Spring 3_ _rd_

Cora scrunched her nose up as her aipom, Alex, woke her up with his furry, hand-like tail. After a few more swipes of a tail and a couple sneezes, Cora couldn't help but bubble into laughter as she sat up in bed.

"I'm up. I'm up already!" she laughed a few more times. Alex scurried up Cora's torso before making a nest on top of Cora's unruly tangle of copper hair. Cora glanced at her heavy duty brush laying on her armoire, and instead reached for a satin ribbon to tie the end of her hair off. Slipping on a jade green dress and snatching a woven basket off of the kitchen counter, Cora double-checked that her other two Pokémon were still sleeping soundly before opening the screen door at the front of the house and heading out.

"I'm still not quite used to living alone," Cora mused aloud. Alex gave her a look of confusion before continuing his sight-seeing from his perch on Cora's head.

Cora giggled slightly and reached up to pat Alex in assurance, "No, I'd never forget you guys, but you know what I mean!" Walking along the dirt path, the duo began to pass Cody's expansive lot of farmland. The man, who had been sowing the soil with strawberries followed by his meowth, paused when he noticed their presence and tipped his hat slightly in their direction. Cora looked down at her feet and quickly gave a small wave before hurrying up the path in the direction of the heart of the town. The dirt path slowly turned into one of cobblestone and buildings now stood proudly on either side of her. She peered into the glass of the Harley's family café as she walked by, which was bustling with business due to the morning rush. Well, as much as the small town could bustle with business, anyway. She continued in the direction of the town hall and took a left around the corner, only to abruptly collide with another individual trying to make a turn as well.

"Zander?" Cora stared at the slightly older man towering over her, unfazed by the collision, who was now pulling the petite woman off of the ground. "What are you doing up this early?" Zander side-stepped to reveal a small girl hiding behind him and a standoffish sableye eerily eyeing her.

"Ziva and I were going to pick up Selena from her check-up with Eliza before I headed down into the mines today with Crystal," Zander explained. Cora nodded, having heard of all the gossip centering around the Delcatty's litter that was soon on the way.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Zander asked in concern, scanning her for any serious scrapes, "You're not the sturdiest of individuals."

"That, I am not," she agreed, fanning out her skirt and dusting it off. Cora noticed her basket laying in the street and gingerly picked it up, hoping the contents were still in a decent condition, "I'm really alright though, Alex just got a bit frazzled." Cora tried not to wince at Alex's claws digging into her scalp, still latching on as if his life depended on it. Zander stared her down with his amber eyes a moment longer before patting Cora on the shoulder lightly, followed by the aipom on her head, before continuing his trek to the local Pokémon breeder's house. Cora smiled lightly at Zander's slightly overbearing antics. He was like a mother ursaring and all the people in the town were his teddiursa. Honestly, he reminded her way too much of her brother.

Unhooking Alex from the top of her head, Cora set the aipom on the ground.

"You are walking the rest of the way, mister," she frowned at him, "Digging your claws into my brain is not polite."

Her aipom gave her a mocking smile as if saying, "Maybe if you didn't fall on your face every second, I wouldn't have to!" Cora rolled her eyes and continued her walk towards the chalet behind the town hall. She knew better than to march up to the front door of the house, and rather barged into the wooden garage that was detached from the rest of the house.

"Rise and shine!" Cora called out in her best singsong voice. In the darkness of the windowless garage, there was one lone lamp turned on to illuminate a workbench. A woman lay passed out on the workbench, arms flopped out carelessly, and drooling slightly. Cora took note of the time on the clock positioned next to the woman, practically about to fall off of the table. She had made better time coming over here than she thought. Tip toeing towards the coffee maker to the right of the garage's entrance, she tried not to wake the garage's sleeping occupant.

"Instant coffee… instant coffee… where did she put those packets of instant coffee?" she whispered to herself as she rummaged through some bins while the coffee maker warmed up. Setting a box back down as softly as possible, she tried to reach the cardboard container at the top of the stack. Being her four foot and eight and one seventh inches self (she checked yesterday, it's her official height.), this was no easy feat. Her fingers just brushed the edges of the box as she slid it forward. She began to step back to slide it the rest of the way out, only to catch her shoe on some spherical object beneath her, mess up her footing, and fling both the box and herself into a haphazard mess.

"Ah!" a new voice echoed after the crashing box had settled. Cora cringed and turned around slowly to see a very drowsy Miranda Argus now upright in her ergonomic chair, her prescription aviator-esque safety goggles sat skewed on top of her blonde hair, and a wrench was suctioned onto her cheek. Miranda squinted to make out whatever had made the noise, couldn't, put on her goggles and then turned on the garage's fluorescent lights.

"Cora? What are you doing here at…" she paused to squint at the clock and let out a groan, "8:30 in the morning! Cora, what the heck!" Cora quickly put a mug in front of Miranda's panda eyes and put in an instant coffee packet that had fallen out of the box.

"You promised to have a picnic with me yesterday, but you locked yourself in here all day yesterday! So to get justice served, I came today too," Cora raised her woven basket to hopefully cause a peace treaty between her and her friend. She wasn't about to mention that half of the stuff in the basket was probably crumbled by now.

"I have earl grey tea cookies, rose infused water, and some sandwiches," Cora continued with her sales pitch. Miranda sipped her coffee thoughtfully, fixing one of the overalls slipping off of her shoulder. Cora waited patiently for Miranda to process what she said, not wanting to anger her further. Both fell into a comfortable silence except for the sipping of coffee. Miranda sighed as she set the coffee mug down, now completely empty.

"I have too many projects to finish, Cora, not today," Miranda motioned to her chaotic workbench, a result from another long night working.

"Any what projects, pray tell, are you working on right now?" Cora asked, eyebrow raised. Miranda immediately perked up, swept an arm across the table to clear it, and then glanced around the messy garage, lighting up when she found the object she wanted, and hefted it up onto the workbench.

"This is the new model of egg incubator I've been working on, E10X. It's for Eliza. It has a new internal heating capacitor and I exchanged the previous insulating material for expanded polystyrene, and-"

"English, please, Miranda," Cora cut off her babbling. Miranda ignored Cora and noticed the movement out of the corner of her eye from Cora's aipom. Alex was playing with the spherical object Cora had tripped over. Miranda rushed over and picked it up.

"I've also been working on this!" Miranda held up the sphere proudly. It had strangely contoured gears spinning over the surface.

"It's the new poke ball I've been working on! I was hoping to send it to the Devon Corporation when I'm done with it! It is timed ball that releases your Pokémon at certain times that you set throughout the day so that you can be sure that your Pokémon eats properly while you are away at work. Then, you can choose to have the poke ball recall the Pokémon after a certain amount of time!" Miranda exclaimed, but frowned when she looked at the poke ball more closely.

"…However, the space containment chamber inside is slightly warped and can be prone to collapsing on occasion," Miranda mumbled. Cora stared at Miranda in boredom.

"…The poke ball has the potential to crush your Pokémon right now," Miranda explained airily. Cora walked over to Miranda and slowly pried her away from the poke ball.

"Okay, that's nice and all, but you need to get outside, get some fresh air, stop being a hermit, and, most importantly, fulfill your promise to me," Cora gently pulled Miranda to the door of the garage while Miranda dug her heels into the concrete floor and flailed her arms out towards her workbench and tools. Growing tired from pulling the defiant girl, Cora let go and let Miranda stumble forward.

"How about this," Cora proposed, "I defeat you in a Pokémon battle, you come with me and enjoy life. You defeat me, and I allow you to go hole yourself up with your drill bits again." Miranda grinned from ear to ear, not about to turn down a challenge to a Pokémon battle.

"Let's take this outside," Miranda told Cora, unhooking a metal poke ball from her tool belt and snagging her regular glasses off a tool chest.

Miranda, Cora, and Alex, made their way to a small clearing by the side of the garage with a couple trees and berry bushes scattered here and there.

Pressing the button on her poke ball, Miranda released her Pokémon in a flash of light.

"Ambi!" cried Ambipom. Noticing Alex, Ambipom immediately scurried over and shared a special handshake using his hand-shaped tail to high-five the other long tail Pokémon. The siblings shared a brief hug and a pat on the back before separating.

"Ready, Cora?" Miranda asked. Ambipom poised himself on both tails, with his body raised above the ground.

Cora nodded, scratching Alex under the chin before standing up, arms akimbo.

"Ambipom, use Sand Attack!" Miranda called out. The ambipom, although not trained as often as Cora's aipom, was significantly faster than Alex. Grabbing two fistfuls of dirt with either hand, Ambipom flung the dirt in aipoms direction before he had the chance to react.

"Alex, fling yourself forward and use Tickle!" Alex wiped the dirt out of his eyes and then used his tail as a spring to propel himself through the air.

Ambipom braced himself for impact. Alex collided with Ambipom and caused him to slide back a few feet, he used his tail to hold one of Ambipom's hands down.

"Ambipom, hit back with a Double Hit!" Miranda told Ambipom and Alex's poised hands began to strike Ambipom in the neck and under the arms. Ambipom stifled a giggle as he brought his free tail around in a fist to collide with Alex's side. Alex's grip on Ambipom's other tail slackened and Ambipom brought his other tail around to collide with Alex's right side.

"Great, Ambipom, now hold him with both of your tails, Cora will have to forfeit!" Miranda called out while her Pokémon complied, raising the smaller Pokémon's body above the ground, encased in both tail-hands. Cora looked at the situation and frantically assessed her surroundings: trees, bushes, and grass. She tried to think of a strategy, but settled for the best idea she had.

"Alex, if you defeat Ambipom, I'll buy your favorite poffins for all of next week!"

"Aipom!" Alex shouted in excitement. Struggling slightly, Alex swung his tail around to clasp Ambipom by the head, and then attempted to fling the larger monkey Pokémon over his head. Ambipom smirked, tightening his hold on Alex, sending them both diving head-first into a nearby berry bush. Miranda and Cora rushed over to check the state of both Pokémon. Both withheld giggles as the observed the sight before their eyes. Alex and Ambipom struggled in the berry bush, snagged on a couple of thorns, however, the impact of the two Pokémon into the bush caused them to squish all of the berries beneath them, leaving the Pokémon with splotched red and purple fur.

"Tie?" Cora proposed to Miranda.

Miranda grinned, "Yeah, let's get these two into the bath and then we can go have lunch, we both know I would cave into your wishes eventually. It's just more fun this way." After a rather difficult bathing session of the aipom and ambipom throwing bubbles back at their trainers, a rather frazzled Cora and Miranda now chased their Pokémon up a hill to their favorite picnic spot outside of town.

"So how's Logan been?" Cora asked Miranda as she passed some crumbled tea cookies over to her and distributed some Pokémon food into bowls. Miranda groaned internally at the thought of her eighteen-year-old brother.

"My parents are always saying, just one more year Logan, just stay one more year and then you can leave the town as you wish… they've been saying that for three years already!" Miranda exclaimed animatedly, cookie crumbs flying everywhere. "Then he takes his frustrations about not being able to leave by bugging me day-in and day-out!" Cora munched on her ham and cheese sandwich thoughtfully, feeling sympathy for the other woman.

"Speaking of being frustrated," Miranda wiggled her eyebrows suggestively from underneath charcoal colored glasses, "I'm frustrated that you haven't talked to Cody more!" Cora flushed and hid her face in the hem of her dress.

"I only moved into this town two seasons ago!" Cora said in exasperation, "You're just like your mom, you know, in that sense. Always playing matchmaker with all of the citizens in town." Miranda shrugged at being compared to her mother.

"Hey, if I hook myself up with a bow and arrow, I'll be ready to go. Your professional cupid. And for you, Cora, all services are free!" the inventor winked at Cora. Cora chucked a sandwich at Miranda's head and missed horribly by two feet.

"I bet you're wrong about all this chemistry that you have in that big brain of yours," Cora huffed and turned to the side.

"My science never lies," Miranda affirmed, picking up the sandwich from before and offering it to Ambipom.

"How's the clinic been?" Miranda asked the redhead, changing the subject.

Cora's lips turned up into a small smile, "No, one's been getting sick, which is great, but at the same time, the only business I'm getting is from seasonal allergies. But the Flower Festival is coming up, so the mayor is buying all of my flowers in my herb garden for the festival." Miranda scratched her head to try to remember when that festival was, it didn't have any technology, or screwdrivers, or programming involved, so information about festivals centered around viewing pansies didn't stay in her long-term memory for very long. Speaking of technology, she had to get back to her workshop! Standing up, the blonde swiped some stray crumbs from her yellow t-shirt.

"This has been great, Cora, really, but my boyfriends called science and imagination are calling my name. Fresh air never beats the clouds of sawdust in the workshop," Miranda awkwardly danced in place as she thought of new possible inventions and schematics to work on. Cora laughed.

"If you're in there for more than a week again, I will come after you!" the redhead called out after her friend and Ambipom. Cora packed up the leftovers of her picnic and extended her arm to the grass to allow Alex to scamper up to his favorite resting spot. After a small battle and a bath, Cora supposed he deserved it.

Cora began her long walk back home to feed her other two Pokémon lunch for the day. Just like this morning, Cora watched as buildings turned into trees and cobblestone turned to dirt. It was just approaching noon and the heat was really beginning to set in. Cora passed Cody's farm once more and saw that Cody had almost finished his work for the day. Wiping the sweat off of his brow, Cody managed to notice Cora passing by once again. He tilted his hat even more slightly than last time. Cora looked down at her hands carrying her basket, feeling shy once more.

Looking up once more, she contemplated gifting the rest of the basket to him. Peering into the basket and seeing the crumbled leftovers, Cora shook her head and continued walking, at a more brisk pace than before, towards her house.

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 **And that's the end of the chapter! It feels a little more expository than before. And I've never really written battle scenes before, so if you have any suggestions on how to make that aspect of my story better, it would really help.**

 **Introduced characters:**

 **Cody Johnson courtesy of wolf fang X1**

 **Cora Redwood courtesy of KorrianneAnders**

 **Elliot Harley courtesy of OPFan37**

 **Miranda Argus courtesy of Another Generic Gamer**

 **Zander Smith courtesy of W.R. Winters**

 **My OC**

 **Some characters have not been completely introduced yet, and more are yet to come! I'm waiting for one more submission to come in, but other than that, submissions are now closed! See you next chapter :).**


	4. Tuition

**With school starting back up, I have tentatively decided on weekly updates for this story, with no set date in the week in mind. So, I could end up posting the Saturday of one week and the very next day and the Sunday update would count for next week. On the other hand, it might take me until the Saturday of the next week to post. While this isn't too terribly frequent or spread out, I think it's a fairly practical goal.**

 **That announcement out of the way, here's this week's chapter.**

* * *

 _Chapter 4:_

 _Spring 5_ _th: Tuition_

Zander pulled his onyx hair into a short ponytail at the nape of his neck and furrowed his eyes over the paper before him. The billing statements for all of his delcatty's check-ups were really piling up. While he couldn't afford not taking Selena to the vet, as his Pokémon's health was practically his health, the thermal paper in his store's register proved that this option wasn't affordable either. Zander looked down at his luxaray, Plasmane, who had been nuzzling against Zander's leg in concern, and sighed.

"It'll all work out," he tried to reassure. Whether he was talking to Plasmane of himself would remain a question. Next to the billing statement was a government notice about adoption subsidies and an enrollment form for Anise Town's local school. Being the only school and an approximately fifty mile radius, tuition didn't run cheap. Heck, the adoption subsidy would barely cover just the books needed to go to school there.

"Dad?" a small voice questioned from the hallway. Zander quickly turned the stack of papers over and turned to face his daughter.

"What are you doing up, kiddo? It's barely the crack of dawn!" Zander chuckled as a bleary-eyed Ziva stumbled her way over towards her foster parent. Zander scooped up Ziva into his lap a smoothed out her bed-head as she began to wake up.

"I could say the same to you…" she mumbled, finally replying to Zander. Zander continued to brush through Ziva's black hair as they sat there. His gaze couldn't help but turn to the school enrollment form underneath the stack of papers. Guilt began to bubble up in his throat.

"Ziva, you know I love you, right?" Zander asked her. Ziva craned her neck upward so her large, pale blue eyes could stare up at him.

"Yes?" she responded, not knowing exactly where this was going.

Zander buried his head into Ziva's hair and wrapped his arms around her, "Like, I really love you, my daughter." He then raised his hands to tickle Ziva's neck until she was erupting into giggles. Her contagious laughter then spread to Zander.

"Dad… hahaha! I can't breathe… anymore!" Ziva forced out between bursts of laughter.

Zander increased his attack, "I'm not going to stop until you're positive that I love you!"

Ziva squirmed, "Okay! Okay! You love me!" Zander's onslaught died down and they both caught their breath whilst grinning widely.

"Good," Zander lifted Ziva off of his lap, "Now if you're awake, how about we head on down to our favorite bakery for an early breakfast?" Ziva nodded excitedly and put her shoes on at the door, not minding that she was about to head out in a blue nightgown. Zander grabbed his flat, leather wallet off the table and then followed his daughter outside. Like that, and the stack of papers were forgotten.

Zander and Ziva looked up at the building named "For Goodness Cakes". The paint on the sign was chipping slightly and the windows were starting to pull away from their frames, but the place still managed to have a certain charm about it. While the Harley's café may be more up-to-date and have better business, Zander seemed to gravitate to this small gem instead. Although it was an unpolished and unrefined gem, a gem was still a gem. A bell rung as they stepped into the bakery, announcing their presence to a woman kneading bread from behind a counter. The portly woman looked up with her floured, heart-shaped face.

"Well I'll be," Abigail Parkerz glowed at the pair that walked in, "if it isn't my two favorite customers! What can I get you guys today?" Ziva perused golden scones and heavenly tarts in their display cases before deciding on her usual.

"One blueberry streusel muffin, please," Ziva told her politely. Abigail nodded and retrieved the delicacy from its display before turning her attention to Zander.

"Oh I'm quite alright, I've already had coffee this morning," Zander told Abigail before reaching for his wallet.

"Oh no, the muffin is on the house today for Ziva," Abigail swatted Zander's wallet away before using her calloused fingers to pinch one of Ziva's cheeks. Ziva frowned at the unwelcome action, but happily snatched her muffin and went to go sit in the tattered booth in the back corner of the shop which she had designated as "her booth". Zander and Abigail stared each other down until Zander swiftly took out double the money for the muffin and placing it on the counter. Abigail fidgeted, unsure of how to react to the kind gesture. Did she return it? Would it be rude to do that? Would it be selfish to keep it?

With an empty wallet, Zander made his way over to Ziva and sunk into the opposing side of the booth. Ziva was now munching on her muffin happily, eating it bottom-up, and looking excitedly at the TV on the bakery's wall.

"Who is that, again?" Zander asked his daughter as she glued her eyes to the performer on the TV screen. The performer had fiery red hair styled into some updo Zander didn't bother to learn the name of, and a baby pink dress that looked akin to a jellyfish. An espeon also appeared on the screen, performing various illusions as dictated by the trainer.

"Daaddd, that's Selina, the performer in our town?! How could you forget about her? She even has a name similar to our delcatty!" Ziva explained, still transfixed on the performance. Zander began to recall seeing the woman around town at times, but judging by the television, she was away touring most of the time.

"Do you want to be a coordinator like Selina?" Zander questioned after keeping to himself for a while. Ziva finally dragged her attention away from the screen to look at her father. She tapped a finger against her chin thoughtfully.

"Well, I certainly think it would be a blast!" her smile turned slightly wistful, "But that would take a lot of training…"

Zander nodded, understanding what the six-year-old had meant, "Most coordinators have to get certification from an accredited school nowadays in order to be even considered for certain agencies." Zander realized he was being a little more than discouraging when he noticed Ziva wringing out her wrists.

"However," he looked at Ziva seriously, "anything you dream on achieving, I will back you up every step of the way, no matter how far-fetched, silly, or even practical that goal may be, and I want you to know that."

Ziva picked at the crumbs left on her muffin liner, "I know dad. You're always so weird when it comes to stuff like this." Zander was about to respond when Abigail's cherrim, Sunny, decided to hoist itself onto the table. The Pokémon teetered on over to Ziva and shook her hand with overabundant enthusiasm.

"Sorry, she's very outgoing. It's not every day that she gets to greet a customer," Abigail told them while cleaning a few already-spotless tables. A vanillite hid behind Abigail and snuck curious glances in Zander's and Ziva's direction.

Ziva couldn't help but saying, "Why do all of your Pokémon look so edible, Ms. Parkerz?"

Abigail snorted a laugh, "I run a bakery, sweetie, of course they do!" Ziva's nose scrunched up unconsciously. She liked Ms. Parkerz, just not all the nicknames she donned on her all the time. She's a child-lover, that's for sure. Ziva played with Sunny for a while longer, moving its tiny hands up and down and twirling it along the span of the table. Zander was about to suggest to Ziva that they should be on their way, and that she should really get dressed properly for the day, but the sound of a bell chiming made him turn his attention to the front door. In the doorway stood Elliot Harley, red neckerchief and all, with his taillow perched on his shoulder. Elliot noticed the duo's surprised expressions and looked fairly amused.

"What?" his eyes laughed, "The food's good here."

Elliot walked up to the counter and ordered practically a bushel of churros, extra cinnamon, and immediately left once polite a "thank you" was exchanged. Abigail began busing herself with making a new batch of churros.

"I can't ever tell if he's coming here to eye out the competition or if he really does think I have good food! Either way, it still throws me for a loop," Abigail mumbled to no one in particular.

"And with that ironic entertainment," Zander began sliding out of the booth and adjusting his red jersey knit shirt, "we should head out." Ziva pouted, giving Sunny a final twirl before following suit. Waving good-bye to Abigail, opened the creaky door to "For Goodness Cakes" and exited the bakery.

"Where to?" Ziva questioned, swinging her arms as they walked back through town. They had already stopped back at the house to get ready for the day and were already on their way towards a new location.

Zander kept quiet, only putting a single finger to his mouth, indicating that it was a secret. Ziva kept interrogating him and playing 20 Questions, but her answers were all answered when they stood outside a Queen Anne style two-story building.

"Today, I made an appointment for us to meet with the main teacher here," Zander motioned to the sign that said "Anise Academy: encouraging education for youths for the past decade". Zander tried to ignore that the "e" in "the" was engraved backwards into the stone.

Zander felt something collide with him and looked down to see Ziva's arms locked tightly around his waist.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Dad!" Ziva repeated in delight. Zander held out his elbow for Ziva to cling onto in order for her to climb the massive steps that led up to the building. In the entranceway of the building stood two staircases on either side of a doorframe that gently curled up to the second floor. Darkly stained wooden floors ran the length of the school, only to be covered by a few ornate rugs here and there. Zander let out a low whistle, he supposed now he knew where all of the tuition costs went towards.

Zander rapped his hand against the mahogany door before him and then allowed Ziva hold his hand with her slightly sweaty palms.

"Come in!" a voice echoed from the interior of the room. Zander opened the door and tugged Ziva gently into the room. The room, much like the rest of the academy, was fairly ornate, however, the amateur drawings that littered the wall and crayons scattered all over the floor kind of took away from that effect. In the corner of the room was a young man sitting at his desk. He got up, nodded in Zander's direction and then walked over towards Ziva so that he could stoop to her height. The tanned man gave a genuine smile and held out his hand for Ziva to shake.

"Hello there, miss, I hear you want to attend school here?" the man asked. Ziva tried to shy away from behind her father's pant leg, but Zander stubbornly pushed her forward.

"Yes, sir, I'd like that more than anything…" Ziva answered the teacher, hands bunched around the hem of her baby blue dress, "I'm Ziva, Ziva Smith."

The school teacher who had been attentively listening to Ziva responded, "And I'd like more than anything to be your first school teacher, Ziva. My name is Liam Trouillefrou, but the students just call me Mr. T or Mr. Trou." Liam straightened himself and smoothed out his black suit and scanned the room.

"I have fifteen more minutes until the kids come back from lunch, is there anything either of you would like to know before my class has to resume?"

Ziva looked around the room in excitement, "How many peers will I have?"

Liam laughed at this, "Only six other kids, our town isn't very big, so that's a fairly large class with all things considered. I bet with all of the kid's drawings decorating the walls you must have thought that there was twenty to thirty kids in the class!"

Ziva walked up to the wall of drawings and gently touched various drawings. She looked at the paper and crayons on various kiddie tables throughout the room with envy.

"You can sit down and draw, if you'd like, there's plenty to go around," Liam told her, breaking away from his discussion with Zander. Ziva nodded quickly and rushed over towards one of the tables.

Liam picked up his conversation with Zander, "You could leave Ziva here for the rest of the day, if you'd like, I really think she would have a great experience even if she can only stay one day. Then Ziva can give you a better impression of the academy when school lets out so that you can mull things over."

Zander scratched the stubble on his chin, debating on letting his daughter leave him for the rest of the day. Although money was one of the reasons that letting Ziva attending the academy was a struggle, Zander also didn't want to let go of his precious daughter so soon. School was like six hours a day! That was way too long to be without his daughter on weekdays for his tastes. After much contemplation, Zander accepted the proposal.

"I supposed I can let her stay for today," Zander said slowly. Ziva looked up from drawing a very deformed delcatty with excitement, having listened in on their whole conversation.

"Really?!" Ziva hopped up and down slightly, unable to contain her joy.

Liam checked his watch, "Really. And we even have one of our most esteemed guests coming here tomorrow if you want to come over tomorrow as well if you're still not sure." Ziva's blue eyes shone with enthusiasm while Zander walked over to his daughter and placed his hand on her black hair and ruffled it until it looked similar to the bedhead that she woke up with.

"Be good," he curtly told her before lifting her up into a tight hug. "I'll be right outside the school when classes are over so that you can tell me all about your first day here at school."

Ziva held a small smile on her face as she was let gently back down to the floor, "And I'll be right here waiting for you, dad."

With that, the miner exited the classroom and began preparing to go to the mines today mentally, thinking about which ores sold for more than others, which cost more to refine, and what areas of the mines were the most concentrated with gems. Looking up, he couldn't help but feel the overwhelming weight of the academy's tuition looming over him like a guillotine ready to drop. Ziva was going to come home today, tell him how she had fallen in love with the school, and then Zander would feel the paternal need to not disappoint his child. If she wanted to go to school, she should by all means be allowed, his socioeconomic status should have no bearing on that wish.

Zander hoped that his mining efforts today would help postpone the guillotine of tuition from dropping any sooner than he felt it would.

* * *

 **And that's the end of the chapter, it's a little shorter, and it was a lot harder to write, but the next chapter** _ **should**_ **be a breeze, but who knows? I hoped you liked this chapter!**


	5. Lionheart

**Here's the next edition of the chapter, please enjoy the edition.**

 **Disclaimer: The usual. I don't own any of the Pokemon or Harvest moon characters, games, these lovely OC's, ect.**

* * *

 _Chapter 5: Lionheart_

 _Spring 6_ _th_

Liam heard no knock when the door to his classroom swung open on Friday afternoon. He looked up from grading papers and smiled to himself as his guest confidently made her way over to a chair in the corner of the room, quite familiar with the layout of his room by now. She untucked the tattered book from under her arm and set the leather bound spine on her lap and listened for the bell to ring.

Rader, Liam's roserade, shot a pointedly look in Liam's direction from her perch on the desk.

"No," Liam told Rader in a hushed voice, "We're lucky that she's willing to volunteer her time weekly, let's not push that by talking to her before class." Like clockwork, the bell for the end of the last recess sounded and vibrations through the halls grew as students stomped, giggled, skipped, and shouted their way towards the classrooms. Liam ushered the last two stragglers into his classroom as Rader efficiently dictated everyone to their seats. Ziva scurried to the spare seat in the back of the class and looked expectantly at her teacher.

"Alright, alright," Liam calmed the energetic children, "Today, as many of you know, we have one of our favorite guests here today to teach us, so let's all give our eyes and ears to Miss Brache. You all can gather around readers' circle now… no pushing Barry, take your time. Guys, make room for Ziva… Drew! Stop pulling on May's hair! Okay, whenever you're ready, Miss Brache." The woman opened the book she had to the first story and poised her fingers over the page.

"Alright, everyone," the woman said in a clear, soft voice, "Today I'm going to read you 'The Origins of Pokémon', I hope you guys will like it. This book is one of my favorites." A small boy with a black and gold cap peered up onto the text on the woman's lap.

"That's not a book," the boy complained, "it doesn't even have words in it." Liam straightened himself from the spot where he was leaning on the wall and was about to correct his student when his guest beat him to the punch.

"You're right, Ethan" the woman's ears perked up as she registered his voice, "it doesn't even have words in it. But that's what makes this book special. It's magic."

She gestured to the book animatedly, "It's a magical book with a language only I can decipher, if you guys are good, maybe I might be in a good enough mood to teach you some of the magic code next time I come visit." The boy nodded animatedly and sat cross-legged in his seat, waiting for the reader to begin spinning her tale. The woman prepared her fingers over the pages, as if they were about to run a marathon, and then quickly slid her lithe hands over the various dots and bumps that littered the braille pages she read from.

"Long ago, before man, before berries, within the vortex of nothingness and chaos, arose a single Pokémon egg. This egg hatched into the legendary Arceus. Arceus then created the Pokémon Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina, giving them power over space, time, and antimatter respectively…" Liam leaned against the wall again and let his eyes close, listening to the soothing voice of the excellent storyteller. The storyteller changed the tones of her voice to indicate the various moods of the story. Right now, she sounded a twinge remorseful, according to Liam's ears.

"However, Giratina, for his uncontrollable destructive nature, was banished to the distortion world, leaving Palkia and Dialga to create out universe before they left to their own dimensions. Alone once again with the universe, Arceus created Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf, to give knowledge, emotion, and willpower to the world. Today, they are rumored to wander around some lakes in Sinnoh, one of our neighbor regions. Kyogre was formed by the pressures of deep sea trenches, Groudon formed from hardened rock and magma, and Rayquaza formed out of minerals in the ozone layer. This is one of the reasons why we have so many regulations in regards to protecting the ozone layer, because Rayquaza still feeds off of those precious minerals to this day…" the guest speaker continued her animated story, voice rising and falling with the tides of action in her story.

Liam hadn't noticed a whole hour had passed with his students sitting still when the storyteller abruptly closed her book and the waves of her voice crashed to a stop. Liam opened his eyes once again and noticed that the rest of the audience looked a bit disappointed by her stopping half-way through the story.

"We'll pick off next time from where I left off," the woman announced to the class, "I wouldn't want to take any more of Mr. Trouillefou's precious teaching time." Dusting off her cream, lace dress, the woman slowly stood, tucked the book under her arm, and made no motion to move.

Liam cleared his throat so that the classes' attention would shift to him, "Everyone, back to your seats, Rader's going to start the next lesson on improper fractions and mixed numbers that we were working on before while I escort Miss Brache towards the door." Once everyone had made their way towards their miniature people sized desks and all footsteps had stopped, Miss Brache strode over towards the door and opened it. Liam quickly hurried to catch up to the woman and match her pace while Rader waved goodbye at the door. Liam propped his elbow out for his friend to hold onto if she wished, but as in most cases, she decidedly ignored him or just didn't notice.

"Thank you for coming to help me out again, Marnie, I think the students are really getting an enriching experience when you read those stories or teach them small things. I'm terrible at reading stories, I sound like I'm giving a report on how the stock market is with the Pokémon Jones Industrial." Marnie almost laughed at that. Almost.

"Don't mention it," Marnie told Liam. She meant it, to really not mention it, "But who was the student you mentioned today? Ziva, was it?" Liam nearly rolled his eyes at her attentiveness to auditory details before gently grabbing Marnie by the shoulder and maneuvering her out of the way of a support pole she somehow always forgot about. Although she was blind, Liam never saw Marnie use a walking stick or a service Pokémon. He didn't feel like it was his right to question why, though.

"She's a new student at the Academy, and she's quite brilliant, although she's fairly far behind the other students. Although, I don't know if she'll be continuing with us for much longer because of the school's tuition…," Liam rambled excitedly about his new student for a few more minutes, elaborating on her strengths and downplaying her weaknesses. He fumbled in his pocket for a the key to the front door, as the front door of the Anise Academy was closed after school hours had started. He had given a spare to Marnie, but he still felt it was only right if he could at least open the door for his friend. Feeling around in his back pocket, he only felt something soft, and also very prickly. Pulling it out, Liam held a bright cadmium yellow rose in his hands. Upon closer examination, he noticed the edges of the yellow rose were tinged a light peach color. Groaning internally, Liam realized that Rader must have exchanged Liam's key for a rose when she was waving from the classroom door.

Marnie sniffed, the smell of the rose now stronger in the air, "You normally smell like roses, Liam, but if you're wearing a rose men's perfume, or cologne, or whatever you call it, I swear-"

Liam reached out for Marnie's hand put the rose in it, closing her fingers around the object.

"It's a 'thank you' from Rader," he dismissed the floral gift. Marnie rubbed the velveteen petals in between her thumb and forefinger, already breaking the flower apart a bit.

"Anyway," Marnie started, switching back to a previous topic as she got out her spare key and unlocked the door, "if you want the new student in your classroom so badly, why don't you propose to the mayor dropping the tuition for the school? The city's budget could easily displace some of our taxes to put forth towards free education. Put a little more effort in, you bookworm." Marnie opened the door swiftly.

"Who's the real bookworm here!" Liam called out after Marnie in a rare moment of defiance, who stuck her head back in the door to stick her tongue out at Liam before rushing out the door before he could tell her off for improper behavior.

Marnie marched along the sidewalk, book cradled carefully in her arms, until she was met with the local library. She opened the large oak doors that led to the entrance of the library and breathed in the dry, musky scent of books that immediately surrounded her. Humming very softly, she made her way over towards the front desk and placed the large embossed book she carried onto the counter.

"I'd like to renew this," Marnie told the Librarian at the desk. The typing of keys stopped abruptly and Marnie could only assume the librarian was looking at her with an odd expression. Trying not to get to self-conscious over the feeling of being watched, Marnie inched forward the aforementioned book a few more inches on the counter.

Marnie heard the book slide off the counter and a small beep of the transaction being processed.

"Is there anything else I can get for you?" a smooth, deep voice asked her. Definitely male. Marnie shook her head and inched her hand up the counter to grab the book again. Wandering throughout the library, Marnie carefully padded her way through the library, clutching onto the bookshelves as she made a long, arduous journey to the braille section in the back of the library shop. Straining her ears, Marnie managed to avoid a few stray people browsing for books.

Creeping around another bookshelf, Marnie jumped when she heard a voice behind her, "My library isn't a place for a game of hide-and-seek; may I help you find a particular book miss?" The same voice from earlier. Marnie proceeded on her journey, ignoring the interruption. The footsteps continued to trail behind her.

For the librarian, Allister Kramer, he didn't normally follow his patrons around, but this irritating one begged to be followed. She would probably tear down his library if he adverted his gaze just for one second. Striding behind her, wisps of blonde hair that escaped his ponytail floating about, Allister tried to ignore the hushed giggles and stares from his female patrons as he passed by. On the other hand, this…uncivilized woman didn't even glance back as she slid in-between bookshelves.

"I really think you're being childish here by advoiding my help, if you'd let me, a certified librarian, help you find your book, then this whole ordeal could end a lot sooner," Allister told the woman in a shout-whisper, unwilling to break the rules of his own library.

The woman raised an arm and shooed him away, "I think I can find a book by myself, thank you very much. I'm self-reliant, this isn't the nineteenth century where the world will fall apart if a woman tried to lift a finger."

"It's called being a gentleman."

"It's called satisfying your ego."

"You could be resourceful."

"And you could leave me alone."

Allister pushed up his gold, round lenses with a huff.

"Why am I even arguing with you?" Allister asked to himself more so than to her. He looked up to see the woman scaling one of the large wooden ladders connected to the bookshelves and abruptly looked away when he realize she was wearing a dress. Now she should really appreciate that he was a gentleman. A few moments later the woman slid down the ladder, no book in hand.

"Who doesn't need help, again?" Allister crossed his arms over his white dress shirt. Marnie scrunched her nose up and folded her arms.

"You misplaced my book." She emphasized every syllable. Allister took in a big breath and slowly released it. So it was his fault now.

* * *

Liam entered the large building of town hall and adjusted his tie and straightened his suit. He had gelled his hair back just for this meeting. Checking to make sure everything was in place in the mirror, Liam opened the large, double doors that led to the mayor's office. The elderly Mayor Durian turned around in his black leather chair and rose to greet Liam.

"Mr. Trouillefou, it's a pleasure to see you again! You know, I was just on the phone with your parents, wonderful people, just wonderful! What can I do for you?" Mayor Durian shook Liam's hand overenthusiastically, Botox nearly seeping out of his cheeks. Liam, on the other hand, tried not to cringe too much.

"Um, I've come here on behalf of Anise Academy today, many of the teachers have come together and formed a proposition we'd like you to read if you are willing to take a look at it," Liam cleared his throat nervously as he handed over the proposition that was printed on legal paper. The Mayor smiled cheerfully as he snatched the document off of the desk. Perusing over the first couple of lines, he immediately set it down. Liam had spent the last five hours tracking down teachers and writing that twenty-page proposal.

"Liam," he said with a giant smile, "I honestly didn't think you had it in you." The edges of Liam's mouth began to turn upward, but the mayor continued.

"I mean honestly, this is above your pay grade. This is a little audacious, don't you think?" Mayor Durian waved the paper around like it was nothing, "I mean, I could understand this if you chose to follow the footsteps of your parents, but this is a little overstepping your bounds. Do you know how much political work would have to go into an adjustment like this in our education? I don't think you're thinking of all of the ramifications of such a proposal."

Liam bit back the retort, "But isn't creating political agendas your job?" as he was talked down to.

"…and we're tight on money with the budget as is!" the mayor finished, tapping a pen on his desk repeatedly, signaling for Liam to take his leave. Liam stared at the man and his Rogaine hair, starched suit, and golden cufflinks, before unhooking his platinum watch and letting it skid across the table.

"Well then my watch will give you a start to help you loosen up some of those purse strings and at least entertain the idea, because it's about time. After all… it's so hard being you," Liam spat bitterly before storming out of the office. All of the other regions had already standardized free education, but this region had yet to do so except for a few rare cities.

Liam, one of the few owners of a car in the town, waved away his driver away, intent on walking home this evening. Returning to the family mansion was one of the last things he wanted to do by this point, so he was hell-bent on taking the longest path to get there today. As Liam walked down the street, a flash of light, emerged from Liam's pokeball on his belt. Excalibur, Liam's excadrill, silently walked alongside Liam, keeping him company as the sky began to darken quickly.

Half way through the walk Liam inquired, "I really blew it back there, didn't I?" Excalibur didn't say anything, which meant more to Liam than actually saying something. Liam and his excadrill continued hiking up towards the mansion on the hill. They were on the outskirts of town by now, with dense foliage surrounding them. They reached a fork in the road, and were about to head along the right path, when a scream cut through the thick silence of the night.

A split second later, Liam shot through the brambles in the direction of the scream. He was graceful by no means, and his appearance of a man with gelled hair and a suit sprint-stumbling through brambles and pitfalls in the forest was hysterical. He was by no means a hero by any standard, and had no idea what would await him when he reached the place where that scream had sounded from.

However, when that shriek sounded out in the dark, Liam couldn't help but think of the nickname that Marnie had given to him as a joke when she had first met him on that unforgettable day.

 _She looked through him, with her sunglasses abandoned for the first time in a long time._

 _"Liam…" she tried the name on her lips, "Liam the Lionheart."_

* * *

 **Okay, this was a lot of fun for me to write, I really adore Liam and Allister, I hope I did their character's justice. Introductions are slowly coming to a close in the coming chapters, and we will now enter story arcs for this story.**

 **I think story arcs are a good way to go about this story with so many OC's. It allows different main OC's in each arc so that I have enough time to develop and flesh out their characters, while still letting the other characters make small appearances before their own story arc so that no one feels left out. Of course, everyone is practically involved in the overarching plot I have in mind for this story.**

 **Thoughts for the chapter? What do you think happened? Thank you for being dedicated readers 3.**


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